Several hundred Cole Valley Christian High School students gave a rousing welcome to a 14-year-old hero Thursday.
Members of the freshman class ushered Jessica Moncrieff of Meridian before the deafening cheers of students gathered in the school's gymnasium to honor her for saving the life of Cole Valley student Justin McAfee, 14.
McAfee's heart stopped, and he collapsed Friday while running bases at Little League practice.
Moncrieff, an eighth-grader at Lewis and Clark Middle School in Meridian, was practicing soccer at an adjacent field. She saw the boy lying in the dirt at second base and rushed over to administer CPR.
"When adults didn't know what to do, this young lady stepped in and took action," Brad Carr, Cole Valley superintendent told the students.
With the same confidence displayed on the baseball diamond that day, Moncrieff, wearing a broad smile, strode into the gymnasium as the student body of Cole Valley High stood and gave a thunderous applause for saving one of their own.
Shouts of, "Thank you Jessica," and "You're awesome," rose above the roar coming from the gym's risers.
"You guys are awesome," said Ken McAfee, Justin's father.
Overwhelmed by emotion and speaking through a brief outbreak of tears, he said, "(Justin is) 97 percent of the Justin you enjoy and know he is.
"The other 3 percent missing is being able to get outside and be back with you guys."
Justin McAfee, still a patient at St. Luke's Meridian Medical Center, will travel to Salt Lake City on Sunday to prepare for a heart procedure at Primary Children's Hospital on Monday.
Specialists there plan to insert a pacemaker-like device into his chest to keep his heart working normally, according to his father, Ken McAfee.
On Wednesday, school officials arranged to have Justin read the morning announcements from his hospital bed, where he is in intensive care. He is listed in stable but guarded condition, according to a hospital spokesman.
So on Thursday the freshman class at Cole Valley presented Moncrieff with a signed plaque from the school as a gesture of thanks for her willingness to jump in and use her training to save McAfee.
"Of course, I have a new daughter," Ken McAfee said before once again being drowned out by the applause of Justin's friends and classmates. "Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your support."
Moncrieff said her reception at the school overwhelmed her.
"I didn't realize how much it mattered to them until today," she said.
She said she visited Justin in the hospital.
"He was sleeping when I was there," she said. "Then when I was leaving he asked his mom who that was and she told him. Then he said, 'Thank you.' "
Ken McAfee said Wednesday that he and his wife, Lysa, are not sure why Justin's heart stopped, but they had talked to a doctor in February when their son had a rapid heart rate.
At that time they had planned to make a trip to Salt Lake City in June for more study.
McAfee said his son should be back to doing anything he wants to do within eight weeks after his heart procedure.
David Kennard: 377-6436
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